


Books, Rain, and You

by IldiDragonheart



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Books, Crush at First Sight, F/M, First Meetings, Friendship, How Do I Tag, Librarian Newt Scamander, Librarians, Libraries, Mentioned Jacob Kowalski, Mentioned Queenie Goldstein, Newt and Tina are book nerds, Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26104555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IldiDragonheart/pseuds/IldiDragonheart
Summary: Tina looked up and saw a man. He was as tall as her, has ginger hair (really messy ginger hair, at that), has hazel eyes and his face was covered with freckles. Tina noted there was a library cart beside him. He must be the librarian, she thought. He gave her a worried look. He approached her slowly.“A-are you alright, miss?” he asked. He had a British accent.Tina nodded. “I’m fine.” She noticed that the place where she bumped into the man had darkened and was wet. “Oh my…I got you wet!” she gasped, pointing at the wet spot on the librarian’s shirt.The man looked at it and just shook his head with a lopsided smile. Tina felt her face heat up at the sight of his rather cute smile. “It’s fine, really.”——Tina gets stuck in the public library due to the heavy rain where she meets this cute librarian.
Relationships: Tina Goldstein & Newt Scamander, Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	Books, Rain, and You

The rain was pouring hard over New York City.

Tina groaned as she ran down the sidewalk, hoping the find a place to stay at until the rain stopped. She tugged her coat over her head as she ran, almost slipping. She started throwing curses at herself mentally.

“Damn rain,” she muttered to herself.

She really should’ve brought that umbrella along with her. Queenie had been insisting her to do so before went out for her daily after lunch walk. She told her sister that it wouldn’t rain, considering the sky was clear at the time. But it seemed like Mother Nature wasn’t in her favor when it started to rain just an hour ago. And now, she’s here.

“Really should’ve listened to Queenie,” she mumbled. She sometimes hates it when Queenie is right. She continued her run. The rain only got stronger and heavier on every step she took.

Getting really sick of it, Tina entered the nearest building she could find. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, panting. After catching her breath, she looked around. She saw bookshelves and tables everywhere, and some computers at the side. Tina sighed when she realized where she was.

She was at that library downtown.

Tina suddenly shivered. She was freezing! She wrapped her arms around herself as she pushed herself from the door and walked around the library. The placed seemed to be empty because of the rain. She found herself wandering down an aisle of bookshelves. She looked at the spines of the books as she passed. _The Lord of The Rings, The Golden Compass, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ and more.

“I must be in the fantasy section,” she whispered. She suddenly wondered where the mystery section might be. As she wandered down, she bumped into someone. She stumbled back a few steps.

Tina rubbed her arm as she gasped, “Excuse me!” the same time as the person she bumped into cried out, “Sorry, so sorry!”

Tina looked up and saw a man. He was as tall as her, has ginger hair (really messy ginger hair, at that), has hazel eyes and his face was covered with freckles. Tina noted there was a library cart beside him. _He must be the librarian_ , she thought. He gave her a worried look as he approached her slowly.

“A-are you alright, miss?” he asked. He had a British accent.

Tina nodded. “I’m fine.” She noticed that the place where she bumped into the man had darkened and was wet. “Oh my…I got you wet!” she gasped, pointing at the wet spot on the librarian’s shirt.

The man looked at it and just shook his head with a lopsided smile. Tina felt her face heat up at the sight of his rather cute smile. “It’s fine, really.” He observed her. He looked at her from top to bottom. “But you…you’re dripping wet!”

Tina blushed. “Oh…uh, I forgot to bring an umbrella when I went out for a walk…” she explained, embarrassed.

The man smiled. “Well then…let’s get you dry, shall we?” He took her by the arm and the library cart with one hand and pulled her to one of the tables in the reading room. He made her sit down on one of the chairs. Then, he left, only to return with a blue overcoat on one hand and a cup on the other. He pushed the warm cup into her hands.

“Here, drink this. That will help you feel better,” he told her softly. Tina nodded and took a small sip. Hot chocolate exploded in her mouth. She smiled.

“Hot cocoa?” she asked him.

He nodded. “That was mine but–“ Tina’s eyes widened at what he said and placed the cup on the table.

“Oh! I’m sorry…” she said, pushing the cup towards him. The librarian shook his head and pushed back to her.

“No,” he told her sternly, “you have it. You’re freezing and that can help you warm up.”

Tina sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue with this really kind librarian. She took the cup back into her hands and continued to sip from it.

Then, the librarian made her stand up. Tina obliged. She placed down the cup on the table and looked at him questioningly. He reached out to tug off her soaked coat. Tina froze at the gesture but relaxes and lets him push it off her. He folded her dripping coat on his left arm and tossed the blue coat to her. Tina caught it and stared at it, eyebrow raised.

“My coat. Put it on, it’ll help you get warm,” he ordered her, but his voice was soft. He left the room, leaving Tina alone in his coat and sipping his hot cocoa.

Tina pondered over this librarian. He was so kind! No one in her life (except Queenie and that baker down on Orchard St) has ever been that kind to her in first sight. He helped her and didn’t even hesitate. Heck, he even persuaded her to drink his hot cocoa. Most people would just drive her away or would just ignore her and wouldn’t give her a second glance. Most people just don’t want her. But him? He noticed her. He helped her when she really needed it, like right now.

She was cut off from her thought when his British accent rang in her ears. “How are you feeling, miss?”

Tina looked up from the cup and saw the man in question, who was carrying a small familiar box, walk towards her and sat down on the chair on her right. He placed the box between them on the table.

“I hung your coat on the coat rack by the door to let it dry,” he informed her.

Tina nodded with a small smile. “Thanks…”

“It’s my pleasure to help,” he said, smiling back. He took the box and opened it. The scent of freshly baked cinnamon rolls and croissants filled her nostrils. Tina stared at the box. It said _‘Kowalski Quality Baked Goods’_. Tina smiled for the second time since she entered the library. The man took a cinnamon roll from the box and handed it to her.

“Cinnamon roll?” he offered. Tina nodded and accepted it. She took a bite and hummed in delight as she chewed. The man chuckled and took a chocolate-filled croissant and took a bite. They sat in complete, comfortable silence, munching on their pastries.

Tina swallowed the piece of cinnamon roll in her mouth. “You go to _Kowalski’s_?” she asked, breaking the silence.

He nodded. “I go there every morning for breakfast. I sometimes buy a box of my personal favorites to eat for lunch,” he replied with a smile.

Tina nodded and took the last piece of cinnamon roll in her hand into her mouth. She dusted of the crumbs for her hand and reached into the box to take another one. She happily munched on her second cinnamon roll as she watched the man.

The man in question smiled. “You seem to like Jacob’s cinnamon rolls,” he remarked as he watched her.

Tina nodded vigorously like a child who just got her parents to agree to get her the doll she always wanted. “Yeah…me and my sister go there every morning before heading off to work,” she explained, taking another bite from her second cinnamon roll. Then, she realized something. “You know Jacob?”

His eyes widened in curiosity. “You do?” he asked in return.

Tina nodded. “He and my sister…” she began hesitantly. “He and my sister…have something going on.” She rolled her eyes playfully. The man chuckled softly at her playful annoyance.

“We met him one time at the bank. He was applying for a loan at the time for his bakery. When he didn’t get the loan, my sister felt really bad for him and decided to talk to him. Then, it turned out that they had a passion for cooking and just…hit it off, I guess,” Tina finishes with a shrug. The man chuckled. “How about you? How’d you meet him?”

“I…” he began. “He was my first friend when I first came here to New York.”

Tina’s curiosity and interest piqued. “Really? When did you first arrive here?” she asked, tilting her head curiously.

He looked at the ceiling as if the answer was there. “Hmm…” he hummed, thinking. “About two years ago.” Tina nodded, even more curious.

As if he saw her curiosity, he continued, “I moved to New York from England to find a job. I really didn’t like working in England and I wanted to travel around the world but, after I arrived here, I didn’t really have that much money to travel. So, when I was looking for a job, I bumped into Jacob. He helped me find a job I like and then I landed this job as a librarian.”

Tina nodded and continued to eat her almost forgotten cinnamon roll. “Why a librarian?” he asked.

The man just shrugged. “I just loved reading books when I was young, mostly books about zoology and nature.” He looked down and blushed. “I always wanted to be a zoologist growing up.”

That confused Tina. “Then why didn’t you pursue your dream?”

That made the man sigh sadly. “We didn’t really have enough money because my mother got hospitalized when I entered college. I had to choose a track that wasn’t really that expensive so we can use the money for mum’s bills.” Tina nodded again and didn’t push further. They sat in another minute of silence until he was the one who asked this time. “What about you?”

Tina stopped in mid-chew. She looked at him confused. “What about me?”

He chuckled. “I mean, what’s your story? I told you mine…it seems fair if you told me yours…” He stopped, blushing. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t dig into your life…I hardly know you…”

Tina shook her head and giggled. “It’s fine.”

She swallowed her food and began telling him the tale of her life, about her childhood, adolescent years, and her current job as a police officer and how she managed to snag a vacation for a month and a half. She even told him the story about her parents’ death when she was about to enter college. She almost cried while telling him.

When she finished, the man gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have asked…”

Tina shook her head. “It’s alright. You told me yours so it really seems fair that I tell you mine as well.” She hesitated for a moment before adding, “I’m Tina, by the way. Porpentina Goldstein. Most people just call me either by my surname or Tina.”

“Porpentina?” The man echoed. “You mean…from the word ‘porpentine’ from _Hamlet_?” he asked.

Tina blushed, nodding. “Yeah…Papa told me that he loved that play. He loved William Shakespeare, basically.”

The man chuckled. “Well…I’m Newton Scamander. Call me Newt,” he told her, holding out his hand. Tina smiled and shook it.

“Newt? You mean…like the animal?” she asked as she lets his hand drop. Newt nodded. Tina chuckled and thought it was kinda nice, considering how much he wanted to be a zoologist.

In the next minutes, the two dove into a deep conversation about books after finishing all the pastries from the box Newt had brought. They talked about what their favorite genre is and what book did they like in said genre.

Newt loved fantasy and adventure books. He told her that growing up his mother had a lot of books in those genres and he would borrow some and read them. His favorites were _The Sword in The Stone_ by T.H White and _Robinson Crusoe_ by Daniel Defoe respectively. He explained that he loved _Robinson Crusoe_ because of the things Robinson did to survive on the island.

Tina told him that she loved mystery books. She explained that she loved how the characters in the books would solve the mysteries and maybe save the world along with it. She favored _Sherlock Holmes_ growing up. She had already read all Sherlock Holmes stories and has three volumes of it back in hers and sister’s apartment.

She also had a little soft spot for the wonderful _Harry Potter_ series.

And it turns out that Newt does, too.

“What book are you at now?” he asked her.

“Halfway through the sixth…” Tina replied. Newt opened his mouth but Tina cuts him off with a accusing finger pointed at him. “And don’t you dare spoil it for me! Having my sister spoil the fifth was enough.”

Newt just chuckled and told her that he was just beginning to read the seventh book. Tina also explained that she didn’t watch any of the _Potter_ movies until she finished reading the book version of the movie. Newt just chuckled at that.

They continued talking about more books until Newt offered her some books that she could read. Tina agreed. They threw away the box and the cup and she let him lead the way through the library and into the sections where some of her favorite books were. When they arrived at the mystery section, Tina almost squealed with delight and began walking up and down the aisle of said section to find some books to read. Newt just watched her fondly as he walked beside her.

Tina stopped walking when she found an Agatha Christie book on the shelf. “Oh. My. _God_ ,” she gasped and turned to Newt who was smiling at her. “You have first-edition Agatha Christie books?” she squealed.

Newt nodded. “Uh-huh,” he replied.

Tina giggled and pulled the book out. _Murder at The Orient Express_ , it read on the hardback cover. She ran her fingers across the covers. “I always wanted to read one of her books. They say they’re amazing,” she told him as she carefully opened the book. Then, suddenly closed it and stared at Newt.

“What about you?” she asked.

Newt raised an eyebrow. “What about me?”

Tina shrugged, hugging the book close to her chest, and tucked a stray piece of her dark hair from her eyes. “Don’t want to find a book to read while we wait for the rain to stop?”

Newt shook his head. “No…I read during any free time I get or when I'm not dealing with much visitors," he chuckled. "I read almost half of the fantasy and adventure books here."

But Tina shook her head like that. She took his hand and tugged him further down the mystery section. Tina was blushing as she held his hand. _His hands are so…calloused and…soft? Is that even a thing?_ she thought and just giggled. Then, they stopped when Tina found some nice books for him to read. She pulled out _Hound of the Baskervilles_ and thrusted it into Newt’s hand.

“Read that," she ordered him, her expression serious for a moment before it changed into a sweet smile. "It’s one of my favorites."

And they continued down the aisle again. Newt laughed as he followed her. “You know, I think it’s my job to recommend books to people,” he said, only gaining a laugh from Tina.

They continued down the aisle, only stopping for Tina to shove another famous mystery book into his hand.

Right now, he had _Hound of the Baskervilles, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_ , and _A Study in Scarlet_. Newt smiled as she watched her grab another Agatha Christie book from the shelves. Then, with one hand clutching three books, he used his free hand to stop her by placing it on her shoulder. He spun her around to face him. She gave him a questioning look. He sighed and smirked. That smirk did something funny to Tina’s insides.

“What?” she asked.

“If you keep recommending me some of your favorite books, I suppose I should recommend some of mine.” Tina was confused and was about to retort when he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards another aisle of books which was just three aisles down from the mystery section. They stopped in the aisle and Tina examined the books on the shelves. _Treasure Island, Around the World In 80 Days, The Three Musketeers_ , and more.

“Adventure section?” she asked.

Newt nodded. “I’ve read almost half of these.” The, he started tugging her down the aisle of books. He stopped to pull out some books and started placing them on Tina’s hands. Tina just stared at the books he placed above the two Agatha Christie books she took from the mystery section.

“ _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Moby Dick_ , and _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_?” she read the titles aloud. “Really?” she asked, smirking.

He just shrugged and started getting some books for him to read. “I like those,” he simply replied.

Then, he tugged her towards the fantasy section and started placing more books onto the pile Tina had in her arms. He placed _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Sabriel,_ and _Alice: Through the Looking Glass_.

“The _Alice_ books? Really?” Tina asked him again as they moved further into the fantasy section.

Newt just laughed and took _The Wizard of Oz_ off one shelf and placed it on top of his pile.

They exited the fantasy section and returned to the table they occupied in the reading room. They both gently dropped the books they were carrying on the table and sat down across each other and began reading. Tina was trying her best not to spoil Newt on the _Hound of the Baskervilles_. Newt was restraining himself from doing the same thing when she was reading _Moby Dick_.

An hour into reading together in silence, the ringing of Tina’s phone broke it. Tina apologized, placing _Moby Dick_ down, and pulled her phone from her pocket. She checked the caller ID. Her sister was calling. She told Newt that she had to take the call and exited the reading room. Once she was sure she was at a good distance away, she answered the call.

“Queenie?...Yeah, I’m fine…I’m at the library downtown…"

She paused to listen to her sister blabber worriedly before cutting her off. "No, Queen, I’m really fine…Yeah, I did get a little wet…Okay, fine, I got really wet. Drenched." She paused again, nodding and humming in response to her sister. "Huh? Oh…There’s this guy…the librarian. He helped me after I bumped into him while I was wandering around… What?"

Tina felt her cheeks heat up at what her sister just said through the phone.

"No! Queenie…I-I just…He’s just really helpful, okay?—Shut up, Queenie!—Okay, I’ll go back. Stop worrying already. ‘Kay, bye.”

She finished the call and pocketed her phone. She returned to the reading room and found Newt still reading. He looked up and stood.

Tina sighed. “I gotta go. My sister’s worried,” she informed him.

She could clearly see the sadness in his eyes when she told him. He nodded and closed the book he was reading. He walked towards her, a book in his hand. When he reached her, he handed her the book. It was the Agatha Christie book she found when they went to the mystery section. She took it.

“Would you like to borrow it?” he asked.

Tina nodded. He smiled and guided her towards the circulation counter so she can check the book out. He told her to return it in two weeks. Tina nodded and accepted the book after Newt scanned it into the computer. After that, Tina realized she was still wearing Newt’s coat and handed it back to him. Newt gave her a smile and placed his coat on the chair. He walked her to the door. Tina took her now dry coat and shrugged it on. Before she left through the door, she faced Newt.

She bit her lip nervously. Newt didn’t look to meet her eyes. “It’s been, um…” he started.

Tina broke into a grin. “Hasn’t it?” Her grin grew wider as she finally met Newt’s eyes and saw his small smile. Silence. Tina inhaled deeply before continuing, “Listen, Newt, I…I wanted to thank you.”

Newt looked surprised. “What on earth for?”

Tina smiled. “Well, you know…for helping me get warm when I came here…and for keeping me company while we waited for the rain to stop. Nobody seems to ever want my company,” she explained.

Newt shook his head, his smile getting wider. “Well, I want your company. N-nobody ever seems to want my company, too.” He smiled even wider. “Thank you for keeping me company, too.”

Tina nodded. “It was my pleasure.” She gave him one last smile before turning to leave but stopped when she heard Newt speak.

“I would…uhm…I would very much like to see you again.”

Tina smiled. “I’d like that.” Then, she pulled out her phone. She told Newt to take his out. Tina smiled and gave him her number, Newt typed it into his phone. After pocketing their phones back, Newt stepped forward and reached to touch a loose strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. Tina froze at the sudden contact. When he stepped away, she gave him a nod before turning to leave. As she was about to step out of the door, she felt a hand take hers and pull her back in.

“Newt?” she asked.

“Tina, what would you say if we…uhm…go for some coffee maybe? Tomorrow?” He asked nervously, eyes not meeting hers.

Tina smiled widely again. “I’d like that.” Then, she giggled. “Very much!” Newt met her eyes and was nodded, evidently surprised. He lets her hand drop. Tina hesitated for a moment before bravely leaning in and gave him a peck on the cheek. When she pulled away, his whole face was red and was pretty sure hers was red, too. She slowly stepped back.

“See you tomorrow, Newt,” she whispered and gave him a wave before really exiting the library.


End file.
